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"Game 39" or the international round was a proposed extra round of matches in the Premier League to be played at neutral venues outside England. The top football league in England, the Premier League is currently played on a double round robin basis, with each team playing the other 19 home and away, giving a total of 38 games. The international round was proposed at a meeting of the 20 Premier League clubs on 7 February 2008, with a view to being introduced for the 2010–11 season, when a new television broadcasting rights contract would be in place. The proposed start date was later put back to 2013–14. The proposal was reportedly endorsed by the chairmen of a number of Premier League clubs. Game 39 resulted in opposition from several club managers. The proposal also met with strong condemnation from supporters' organisations, who saw it as solely motivated by money to the detriment of fans. Sepp Blatter, president of the sport's global governing body, expressed a negative opinion of the proposal and stated that it could affect England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup, and the football authorities in a number of the areas suggested as possible venues for the matches were also opposed. In May 2010, the Premier League said that it was no longer actively considering game 39, but in October 2014 it was said to be re-considering the idea. ==Proposal== The Premier League, the top-level football league in England, contains 20 member clubs, with each playing the others once at home and once away for a total of 38 games per season.〔 〕 The proposal envisaged each team playing one further match, a total of ten extra matches, over one weekend in January.〔 Two matches would be played in each of five cities, one each on Saturday and Sunday.〔 Cities would bid for the right to stage matches, but would not be able to specify which teams would be involved.〔 The matches would be held at staggered start times, with venues in different timezones, making it possible in theory to watch live television coverage of all ten.〔 There are conflicting reports about whether the draw for the extra fixtures would be seeded or not.〔 〕 The week prior to the international round would be free of matches, to allow for travel and acclimatisation.〔 The week after the international round would see each team face one of the teams which had played at the same foreign venue, to avoid any disadvantage for teams with a longer round-trip.〔 Possible venues suggested for international-round matches were Australia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Gulf States, and North America.〔 All are wealthy regions where interest in English football is strong relative to the level of the domestic game. Venues would have warm, predictable weather, unlike England in January.〔 Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore initially said there would not be more than one international round per season, stating "I stress that on my watch, there will be no 40th game. The value (a 39th game ) is in its uniqueness, in that festival weekend, so there's no point in diluting it".〔 Subsequently he suggested the initial plan would last six to ten years and might be altered.〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Game 39」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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